


Let’s be sinners to be saints, and lets be winners by mistake

by Shaish



Series: Ghosts [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War, M/M, cap 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 10:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3064772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaish/pseuds/Shaish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>MUSIC: http://youtu.be/abQ2KWBYjvo</p>
    </blockquote>





	Let’s be sinners to be saints, and lets be winners by mistake

**Author's Note:**

> MUSIC: http://youtu.be/abQ2KWBYjvo

_Two years later - Ten years after Hydra_

 

"How's Sasha doing?" Bucky asks, low and quiet like the atmosphere. He watches Steve look down at the bundle of fur poking its head out of the 'v' of the front of Steve’s coat, light blue eyes shifting in staccato movements as it looks around.

"Curious," Steve replies softly, stroking a finger down its head. Sasha doesn't look up, just keeps looking out at the fog covered town across the short bridge, their bootsteps barely detectable on the old, arching wood.

The two solid black kittens wandered off within a week of each other, the orange a country after that. Shadow and Sasha (name courtesy of Bucky and agreed upon by Steve) are all they have left now.

Neither of them were going to make the kittens stay, but, well, Bucky gets what it's like watching a loved one choose their own way. They'll both miss them.

He loops an arm through Steve’s at the top of the gently curving arch of the bridge, steering them both to face the water lined by bare trees, ropes of lights taking the places of leaves and giving the dark a gentle glow with the lit windows of the bordering buildings of Amsterdam. Steve raises an eyebrow at him.

"Getting your sense of romance back?" he jokes softly.

Bucky gives him a gentle shove with his other hand but doesn't let go, pulling himself in closer to wrap both arms around Steve’s one. "What are you talking about? I've _always_ been romantic."

Steve raises his other eyebrow and Bucky rolls his eyes, resting his chin on the side of Steve’s shoulder and trapping Shadow's tail between it and where the appendage is loosely curled around the front of his neck. " _I was romantic_ ," Bucky argues.

Steve gives him a look and Bucky pouts a little, trying to avoid saying anything about their time with the Red Room, just like Steve is. Trying not to think about Steve struggling to breathe with broken ribs, laying in Bucky’s arms on a cold, dirty, cement floor.

Trying not to think of Steve’s blue eyes through a crack in his goggles after Bucky punched them hard enough to cause the damage, both of them hard and their handlers trying to pull them off of each other with shouts of Russian.

"I killed Rumlow, slowly, in _your_ boxers," he says instead, "Your boxers," he emphasizes.

"Yes," Steve agrees, " _My_ boxers. That I couldn't get the blood stains out of."

Bucky makes a protesting sound. "The stains weren't _that_ big," he grumbles.

Steve gives him _another_ look and Bucky sighs, shifting his chin up to rest it on the top of Steve’s shoulder. "I danced with you in the kitchen," he says next, quieter.

"Naked," Steve adds softly, lips slowly curving up a little.

Bucky grins something quiet. "Naked," he agrees, and closes his eyes when Steve ducks his head down a little to brush their lips together. "I still think me killing Rumlow in your boxers counts," he says when Steve pulls back an inch.

Steve snorts quietly, but threads his free hand's fingers with Bucky’s. "If you say so, Buck."

Bucky grins a little.

\--

Steve’s gently rubbing his fingers over Shadow's head with his legs crossed at the ankle in front of him, _Gone Girl_ open in his lap when something said from the low playing tv catches his attention and he looks up, frowning a little.

"Hey, Buck," he says, knowing Bucky will hear him. He hears Bucky hum from the kitchen.

" _Yeah?_ " Bucky asks back.

"Can you come in here? And turn the tv up?" Steve asks. He hears barely there footsteps and then Bucky's walking into the bedroom, reaching to turn the tv up before backing up a bit with a frown.

" _-registration. We're now live with Tony Stark, the main opposition to the Act's proposition_."

The screen cuts to Tony standing behind a podium in the lobby of Avengers Tower, he's got a few deeper lines set into his face and graying hair, but he still looks like, well, _Tony_.

" _Mr. Stark_ ," a reporter seated below the podium starts, " _With all of the damage caused in the Ultron incident two years ago, governments from all over the world have been debating whether to allow heroes free roam of the cities, especially unmonitored. Seeing as how you were partially responsible for the incident and the damage inevitably caused, why is it exactly that anyone should take your side in opposition to a law that will make sure **every** threat is monitored around the globe, so a disaster like this is less likely to happen in the future?_ "

It's quiet for a moment as Tony stares down at the reporter, a blonde woman lounged back in her chair, a small, sardonic smirk quirking up the side of his lips.

" _Well, Ms. Everhart, New York's lovely, illustrious reporter, as always_ ," Tony starts, smirk slowly fading away. Ms. Everhart leans back a little further in her chair. " _I won't say that the Ultron incident wasn't my fault, we've already established two years going now that it partially **was** , nor will I say that no other incidents may happen in the future; it's impossible to tell. But I will say, that much as the Mutant Registration Act was an infringement on the rights of people with mutant abilities, so too is the Hero Registration Act an infringement on **heroes** with abilities_."

" _Yes, but_ -" Ms. Everhart starts.

" _I'm not saying that we heroes have gone through near the hell that Mutants have_ ," Tony continues, cutting her off, " _But much like the mutants, many of the heroes, as has always been the case, have abilities tied into their genetics, and to **force** them into making it globally known **who** they are, to **force** them into revealing themselves and put themselves, and their **families** , at risk? Well, that makes this law that they're trying to pass no less endangering and immoral than the Mutant Registration Act was. And just like Doctor Jean Gray had said during her speech for that at the time, 'The wrong person behind the wheel of a car can be dangerous', but that's not for us to pre-decide. We can't know who will do what, who will become someone who uses their abilities for good, **or** for bad. All that we can do is try to help and guide one another along_."

" _If I remember correctly_ ," Ms. Everhart says, " _I believe the former Senator Kelly said that: 'We **do** license people to drive.'_ "

" _And if you may have forgotten,_ " Tony counters, " _Doctor Gray had replied, 'But not to live'._ "

There’s a clamor of reporters all speaking at once.

One of them speaks louder than the rest.

" _All this talk of genetics and the person **choosing** what to do with their abilities_ ," they start, the commotion quieting down, " _What about the actions of Steve Rogers, our very own Captain America, and his partner James 'Bucky' Barnes?_ "

Tony doesn’t move, neither do Steve or Bucky.

" _It's been ten years since the incident with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra,"_ the reporter continues, _"But it's hard not to think of them and all of the lives lost, who were not brought to justice, when we're talking about a law that would prevent someone even as well known as Captain America, **The Winter Soldier** , from repeating an incident where countless lives were put in jeopardy and many were lost, without the trials their victim's families deserved_."

Pepper enters the corner of the screen, and Tony looks at her with a nod before returning his attention to the reporter.

" _Look, I can't tell you how many times I've been asked about Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, more so because, yes, I knew them personally, helped them with some of what they were going through and saw even more_ ," Tony starts, " _We could argue over **another** ten years on their decision to destroy Hydra. We could debate on the morality of that single act, the single act of the two people who suffered directly **because** of Hydra the most. Was it right? Maybe, maybe not, we've all got differing opinions there. What I know? I saw Steve bleeding out from having his leg cut off above the knee by a sadistic man, who worked for Hydra. I saw Bucky cauterize that same wound with his **own left hand.** I personally built and attached the leg Steve is probably **still** using to this day, **right now.** I saw Steve’s mind wiped and all autonomy and any **semblance** of choice taken from him, saw him used like a **toy** by a Hydra agent. I played **dodgeball** with them, then saw them both get so emotional about having to take each other down in a **game** , with a **rubber ball** , because the reality that they had lost everything but each other was **there** , always waiting just under the surface and ready break the fragile new reality they'd finally been allowed to **have** , **our** **everyday reality** , because they had been so abused, so **tortured** , turned into **weapons** for who they were and what they could do that they couldn't even play a game countless **children** do without having to **reassure** themselves **and** each other that they were **okay**_ **.** "

It's completely silent for a moment as Tony lets that sink in.

Steve and Bucky stay completely still, Shadow nuzzling at his hand with a wet nose.

" _What **I** know?_ " Tony asks, " _Is that no one, **no one** , deserves to go through **any** of what they did, **anything** like that, just because they have abilities_ ," Tony leans forward a little, hands gripped around the sides of the podium, " _And what we **all** know is that we **don't** know who will and who won't become a housewife, a house **husband** , who will decide to draw comics for a living, become a firefighter, become a **hero.** We don't know if someone who's been **forced** to hurt others, been **brainwashed** to, could eventually become again the heroes they always were_."

Bucky sits down slowly on the end of the bed and Steve gently rubs his foot against his hip. Bucky grabs his ankle, holding on and giving it a squeeze.

" _ **What I know** is that **forcing** people to notify the world who they are and what they can do **endangers** **them** , puts them at more risk than most of us can even **imagine.** I know that no one deserves to live that way, and that we are not gods. We do not decide by a name and ability on a list of paper who is or is not good, who will or won't do bad, and if they are redeemable or not. **What we know** is that there are **good** people out there trying to do **good things** , people who **will** , and people who **will again** , and I for one don't want them outcasted, twisted, and broken just for being who they are and being able to do what they can do. I won't be part of any government that does._"

It's still silent.

" _And if you're listening Rogers, Barnes_."

Steve and Bucky both sit up a little straighter.

Tony looks out at them from the screen.

" _I hope you can finally sleep at night without waking up in the middle of it, screaming, and wake up knowing that you're **still** heroes, that you always will be. Thank you_."

The reporters all clamor for Tony’s attention as Pepper leads him away. Steve blinks when Bucky's grip tightens on his right ankle, the pressure registering, and Steve shifts his eyes to look at him, realizes that there are tears running down his face.

There’s tears on Bucky's, too.

They stare at each other for a long minute, ignoring the recap and opinion of the reporter talking. Bucky opens his mouth, looking like he's going to attempt a joke about Tony actually being capable of a decent speech.

And maybe, in a different world, he would.

But in this one, he just closes it after a moment, turns the tv off, and shifts to crawl up the bed.

Steve sets his book aside and Shadow moves out of the way when Bucky crawls over his lap, hovering over Steve on his hands and knees and leaning his forehead down to press theirs together.

Neither of them talk, just close their eyes.

Bucky nudges at Steve’s leg after a couple of minutes and Steve opens his eyes, spreads his legs so that Bucky can kneel between the 'v' of them.

"I'm going to make love to you," Bucky says into the small space between them, almost a whisper, staring straight into Steve’s eyes.

Steve reaches up with both hands to gently cup Bucky's face, angling his own so he can kiss Bucky soft on the lips, like glass.

\--

When Bucky moves in him, it's slow, gentle. Bucky keeps his hands framed around either side of Steve’s head on the bed while Steve gently strokes his fingers through Bucky’s hair, from his scalp down the trail of it along the length of his spine.

They breathe each other's breath, air, in sync, mouths a few inches away, and keep their eyes on one another. They move like they could do this forever, without a care for time or the world.

\--

After two hours, they both come at the same time. They lay there together, watching each other with eyes half lidded. Bucky strokes metal and flesh fingers across Steve’s cheeks while Steve draws one down the length of Bucky's nose and over his lips, over the cleft of his chin while stroking his other set of fingers across Bucky's brow.

Then Steve gently rolls them and they do it again. He draws his fingers down along the seam of Bucky's left arm where skin meets metal while moving in Bucky just as slow and gentle as Bucky had moved in him, and Bucky traces his own fingers along the seam where Steve’s leg meets metal of his own.

They come again when the stars are out and the moon is visible through the window, and then they lay side by side, tracking moonlight across each other's skin and trading slow kisses until the sun starts to rise.

\--

After two years of indecision and debate, a decision is made on the Hero Registration Act.

It doesn't pass.

**Author's Note:**

> Gina and I are cooking up something kind of big. I can't say anything about it right now, but _things. **Stuff.**_


End file.
